Disclaimer: I don't own any characters except my characters. Which are quite a few this time around. Let's try it this way: I don't own any Marvel characters that happen to show up in the upcoming chapters and which I'm sure you'll recognise without any need to name long lists. I also do not own Jenny, which Dizi created a few years back and which is a fabulous character. I strongly recommend you read her adventures with Wolverine and the X-Men.
2. The Living Proof
The suffocating night breeze rippled through the light curtains of the home office. Kredall, whoever he might be, had been right on one thing: Alphonse Stein's house was as easy to break into as a playground. The holiday house (though why a powerful industrial as old Stein might want a holiday house in the middle of the desert was beyond his imagination) was as empty as if it was abandoned.
The safe, which Gambit had almost expected to be empty too, had been predictably hidden behind Stein's imposing portrait and it had given the thief little trouble so, as he went through the dozen folders, the Cajun was as relaxed as if he were in his own house. Sitting on the mahogany desk, he flipped through the paperwork. They were mostly surveillance photos and reports, obviously aimed at blackmailing, but one of them concerned a mutant woman. She was a police officer whose mutation meant she could create a protective bubble around herself and others. From the photos, she seemed to be well liked by her colleagues. Probably had saved their lives from a few bullets, he guessed. But nothing in the folder hinted at anything worthy of blackmail… well, except that she had lost her powers after M-Day. She had stayed in the force for at least three more years but the folder held no information more recent than that.
Whatever Kredall had hinted at, it had to be about the woman, Joan Hillsman.
"I got de papers I came here for, mes amis," he warned through the intercom. "I'm headin' fer de secret room now."
"Ya sure ya don't want no backup?"
Gambit rolled his eyes at the thought.
"A ten year old could do dis, homme." Then he grinned as he located the double doors of the master suite. "Hey, even you could'ave done dis alone!"
"Will you quit it, you two!" Hearing Shadowcat, Gambit couldn't help but shake his head at Petey's idea of proposing. Sucker. "What are the papers about?"
Dieu, he had two beautiful children himself, loved Rogue through Hell and Heaven, but did he have any illusions of chaining himself into marriage? Non. Jamais!
"Female police officer by de name o' Joan Hillsman."
Ignoring the luxury decoration, Gambit started looking for a hidden door in all the usual places: fireplace, bookcases...
"I'm running her name now and... she's missing. According to the FBI database, she's been missing for nearly two years."
Et voilá! As typical as it could be: a bookcase of ancient looking encyclopedias. Even a five-year-old could have spotted it. At least the lever that opened the door wasn't a book. It would have been ridiculously cliché if it were. Gambit took half a dozen musty volumes off a shelf for better access to the electronic keypad and popped his knuckles. Not that he was cracking the code manually; Shadowcat had brought a code cracker which Gambit now used to crack the code in... twenty seconds. The merveilles of science!
The wall clicked and hissed then slowly slid to the side. Peering carefully inside, Gambit couldn't help the frown when he identified the shape of a fridge. In a secret room? Then a bed. The pieces fell into place all of a sudden: the threat, the missing... There, next to the bed: a human shape was cowering, whimpering.
"Mon dieu," he let slip as he activated the intercom. "De missin' woman is here. I repeat, she's..."
Lights inside the secret room went on automatically as the wall stopped moving.
"Get de jet ready," he spit. "De woman... she gonna need a doc."
This is a very short chapter and I believe it must remain so.
However, because I feel very short chapters don't work as well online as on a book, I'll be posting the next chapter tomorrow.
As some of you may be wondering when Remy and Anna will finally get to fix their problems, I thought I might as well give you a heads up. I'll also be posting this information on my profile so you have an idea of my publishing schedule.
I'll always post one chapter a week (unless there's a big disruption in my life), and I may occasionally drop a bonus chapter (like this week).
The Ressurrection. The main objective is to bring Sabretooth to the fore and settle settings, main characters, dynamics and motivations. It's 23 chapters long so it should end in late October – early November.
Double Dealings. It lays the terrain for Mystique's actions concerning the Twins (I do not consider this a spoiler because it's a threat presented at the end of The Proposal). It's 19 chapters long so it should start in late October – early November and end in March 2018.
Disasters Come in Threes (tentative title). Half-way written. Gambit and Rogue will feature heavily in the second part of this one. Should have between 15 and 25 chapters but some characters may request extra chapters.
Fighting for a Happy Ending(tentative title). Plotting stage. Gambit and Rogue will feature heavily throughout it and will have their happy (?) ending at its closing.
Do keep in mind that Sabretooth and Irbis-Isabel will be the main characters throughout the whole of it. There will be moments where other characters and their problems take over (Kitty-Pyotr, Jubilee, Rogue-Gambit, … ) and these take-overs can be rather long on occasions, but Sabretooth and Irbis-Isabel are still the main stars.
I'm exploring different characters and developing my ability of working with different plotlines simultaneously so let me know when the result of the experiences are a bit off.
Hi, Legna. I'd really appreciate it if you could review while logged in, as then I could answer your reviews. You cover some very interesting points in the 'ranty' one and I agree with you.